How Millennials Are Changing Manufacturing

You can read this two ways: First, that as Millennials continue to grow in manufacturing, they are changing the Industry around them. Second, that if you want to attract talented and skilled Millennials into your own business, you must change as well. A 2015 Deloitte study shows that manufacturers will be scrambling to fill over three million positions over the next 10 years. This means the industry is not just scrambling to attract Millennials, but also competing for the “cream of the crop.”

Not Your Grandfather's GE

GE has recently launched a campaign to tell Millennials and college grads that they are not an old-fashioned company. Of course, this isn’t just a matter of putting on sunglasses and using the word “fleek.” GE has to show Millennials that their talents and new methods are welcome in a company that has been around for a very long time. You need to make sure your company is open to change and new ideas as well.

Millennials Are Making Machines "Smart"

The most impactful change is that Millennials are bringing their technology and programming skills into manufacturing. As this dialogue from one of GE’s recent commercials shows when a son, Owen, tell his parents about his new job:

“GE, a manufacturer,” his dad says proudly and produces a large hammer that belonged to Owen’s “Grandpappy.” “He would have wanted you to have it,” Owen’s dad says.

Owen, flustered, explains: “Yes, GE makes powerful machines. But I will be writing the code that will allow those machines to share information with each other.”

Teamwork and Collaboration

Millennials are comfortable with collaboration and tend to prefer to work in teams. This can be a big change, as many manufacturers have a culture which prefers hierarchy and silos. However, this goes beyond just culture; Millennials tend to solve problems with communication. If there is a problem with quality, efficiency, or logistics, Millennials turn to technology and data collection to increase communication between different parts of a plant and process.

Goals and Vision

Millennials are also more motivated by working toward a goal. If they feel their job is to “just do what has always been done,” then chances are they won’t want to work with you and will look elsewhere. Instead, they need to believe they are working toward bigger and better things.

But this isn’t just Millennials, this is where the market is going. More and more, people are buying into brands they believe in, and not just products. You need a plan for where you are taking your products, your plants, and your business, and you need to sell that vision to the market, as well as Millennials you want to attract to your workforce.

What You Need to Ask Yourself

So as Millennials enter the workforce and grow into decision making roles, you need to be asking the following questions:

Does your workplace not only accommodate, but take advantage of what Millennials have to offer?

Do your products appeal to a more and more tech-savvy and connected market?

The DATTUS Industrial IoT (Internet-of-Things) Platform can't solve everything regarding your workplace culture, but we can help you get your operations and products to a competitive place in the evolving market.

You can read this two ways: First, that as Millennials continue to grow in manufacturing, they are changing the Industry around them. Second, that if you want to attract talented and skilled Millennials into your own business, you must change as well. A 2015 Deloitte study shows that manufacturers will be scrambling to fill over three million positions over the next 10 years. This means the industry is not just scrambling to attract Millennials, but also competing for the “cream of the crop.”

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